BAYLISS (DUCATI XEROX) IS MAN ON A MISSION FOR VALENCIA
AFTER POSITIVE FGSPORT TESTS
Valencia (Spain), Thursday 20 April: After dominating the
recent FGSport official tests at Valencia and Misano Adriatico,
championship leader Troy Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) will return
to the Ricardo Tormo circuit this weekend as a man on a mission.
The 37-year-old Australian unofficially broke both long-standing
lap records at the Spanish and the Italian tracks and his
aim is now to increase his slender one-point lead over James
Toseland (Honda) at the top of the table.
“I’ve been saying for some time now that ever
since I hopped on the bike, it’s been going really good”
declared Troy. “The only thing that seems a bit strange
though is that at every test we’ve ended up fastest
and everything looks so good, but when it comes down to racing
we’ve only had one win, although we’ve always
been up at the front. Here we’re quietly confident of
doing well but maybe we expected a little bit more at this
point of the season. But after the last two tests we’re
in a good situation and looking forward to this weekend at
Valencia. I’ve done plenty of laps round here in Superbike
and MotoGP and know the circuit so well so if we look at everything
on paper, it should all go well but you never know with racing!”.
Lorenzo Lanzi is still suffering from an incident in training
shortly before the recent test at Misano, when he tore a muscle
in his ribs. “I feel OK, the problem is when I get on
the bike” declared Lorenzo. “I always try and
train as much as possible, sometimes these things happen in
training. However the last two tests went really well, we
are close to the frontrunners, so tomorrow we’ll try
and start off on the right foot and do a good job in view
of the race. For me Valencia is OK as a track, maybe the first
part of the circuit is where I have a bit of difficulty. Both
Troy and I are counting on doing a good race here, but as
we saw in the tests the Suzukis and the Yamahas are both very
competitive”.
DUCATI XEROX 2-SEATER: The first European
round of the season will also mark the first appearance of
the Ducati Xerox 2-Seater, in collaboration with the team’s
title sponsor, Xerox. The bike is an exact replica of the
999F06 used by Troy Bayliss and Lorenzo Lanzi, and it will
be present at every round of the season to provide a sensational
experience for a selected group of clients, sponsors, media
and VIPs. The rides will be provided by expert Italian racer
Dario Marchetti, chief instructor at Ducati’s DRE (Ducati
Riding Experience) riding school and the first pillion passenger
on the two-seater at Valencia will be the SBK producer for
Spain’s World Superbike host broadcaster Telecinco.
‘MASCALZONE LATINO’ GREETS WORLD SUPERBIKE
CHAMPIONS. The Spanish Round of the Superbike World
Championship taking place this weekend at Valencia will have
an enchanting prologue with a press conference organized by
FGSport together with the ‘Mascalzone Latino’
America’s Cup yachting team. The conference will take
place at the America's Cup Port on Thursday afternoon. FGSport,
the Mascalzone Latino team and the Valencia circuit management,
together with top SBK riders such as Troy Bayliss, Troy Corser,
Alex Barros, James Toseland, Steve Martin and Andrew Pitt,
plus Spanish heroes Ruben Xaus and Fonsi Nieto, will all attend
the event. At the end of the press conference the Superbike
riders will transfer from the vessel hosting the conference
to Mascalzone Latino Ita 77 and will have an opportunity to
meet the crew.
CIRCUIT HISTORY. Since its opening by King
Juan Carlos I in September 1999 the Comunitat Valenciana Ricardo
Tormo Circuit has become a firm fixture in the world of motorsport.
The track is located in the Spanish town of Cheste, on the
outskirts of Valencia, and it hosted its first SBK round in
2000. The designers based the 4km course on American circuits,
enabling spectators to view the entire track. It has a maximum
capacity of 110,000 spectators and has excellent transport
links, being just a few hundred meters away from the Valencia-Madrid
A3 motorway and a ten-minute drive from the airport.
THE CIRCUIT. Name: Comunitat Valenciana
Ricardo Tormo Circuit. Length: 4.005 km. Pole Position: right.
Corners Left/Right: 8/5. Longest straight: 876 metres.
CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS (after 2 rounds of 13):
(Riders) 1. Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) 75; 2. Toseland (Honda)
74; 3. Corser (Suzuki) 63; 4. Barros (Honda) 55; 5. Pitt (Yamaha)
45; 6. Haga (Yamaha) 42 …. 11. Lanzi (Ducati Xerox)
15. (Manufacturers) 1. Honda 78; 2. Ducati 76; 3. Suzuki 73;
4. Yamaha 58; 5. Kawasaki 22; 6. Petronas 3.
STATISTICS: Best lap: Bostrom (Ducati),
1m34.649s (2002). Lap record: Hodgson (Ducati), 1m35.007s
(2003). Superpole: Bayliss (Ducati), 1m34.814s (2002). Race
distance: 2 x 23 laps/92.115 km.
2005 RESULTS: Race 1 – 1. Corser (Suzuki);
2.Vermeulen (Honda); 3. Kagayama (Suzuki). Race 2 –
1. Corser; 2. Vermeulen; 3. Walker (Kawasaki).
TV COVERAGE: Eurosport 2 (Pan European):
Sunday 23 April – 1205 SBK race 1 (live), 2100 SBK race
2 (delayed). Eurosport (Pan European): Sunday 23 April - 2300
SBK race 2 (delayed). La7 (Italy): Sunday 23 April –
from 1600 onwards SBK races 1+2 (delayed). Telecinco (Spain):
Sunday 23 April – 1130 SBK race 1 (live), 1530 SBK race
2 (live).
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